Decades of cruel treatment prepared the black community to create change, pastor said

In 2005, the Montgomery Advertiser released a series of interviews and stories to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which officially began on Dec. 5, 1955. The following story originally ran as a part of that series.

In late November 1955, the Rev. Donnie Williams had a dream of turtles with guns coming in from the west.

“I told my aunt, ‘That is a war, that is bloodshed.’ It meant suffering, that a fight was coming,” Williams recalled.

A few days later, after a visit to Lowndes County, Williams returned to Montgomery. His aunt, Magnolia Anderson, told him, “They put out pamphlets Saturday that no one’s to ride the bus. You remember that dream you had?”

He remembered the dream, and he was ready. That Monday night, he and his aunt attended the first mass meeting at Holt Street Baptist Church.

Williams preached for more than 50 years. The Bible informed his understanding of what happened during the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

“It was just like when God sent Moses down to Egypt to bring his people out of slavery. God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Some people, even in slavery, became complacent,” he said. Cruelty from the Egyptian pharaoh gave even the most complacent Israelites the motivation to create change.

Williams remembers the injustice, including the treatment of blacks on the segregated city buses.

“This was so wrong. Sometimes it would just hurt you so bad,” he said. “God was getting us ready for moving out. Some people had become complacent with nothing.”

In those days, Williams was often called “Stringbean.” He worked at a Gulf service station for Jeff Powell, a white man who “treated me as if I were his son.” Williams’ job was not endangered by his participation in the bus boycott.

Williams drove his 1939 Dodge around town, giving rides to boycott participants. One day, he picked up a couple of people who were gathered behind the Montgomery Seed Co. building, just off Dexter Avenue. Right by the Capitol, he was pulled over and taken to jail on an unfounded accusation of hit-and-run driving.

“The people with me walked back down and told (the others) they had arrested Donnie Williams,” he said. That evening, the Revs. Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy and another leader got him out of jail.

The Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy, the Rev. Robert S. Graetz, pastor of Trinity Luthern Church, and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., talk outside the witness room during the bombing trial in Montgomery on May 28, 1957. Abernathy?s church and home were bombed as well as the home of Graetz, who has an all-black congregation.
Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy, left, Rev. Robert S. Graetz, center, pastor of Trinity Luthern Church, and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., talk outside the witness room during the bombing trial in Montgomery, Al. on May 28, 1957. Rev. Abernathy's church and home were bombed as well as the home of Rev. Graetz, who has an all-black congregation. A wave of bombings took place after full integration on buses that resulted from the 13-month Montgomery Bus Boycott. (AP Photo)(Photo: AP)

In court, Williams explained to the judge that he had earlier been in a minor collision with a young man he knew. They had gotten out of their cars and talked — there had been no hit-and-run. He was cleared.

“They were just writing and ticketing. Their concern was to make us look bad,” Williams said. “It was rough. They wrote us tickets, and (we) ain’t done nothing.”

The boycott participants were not swayed by police harassment.

“When your mind is made up and your heart is fixed, then your feet are ready for traveling. God fixed our hearts,” Williams said.

As for the people who tried to keep black people down, he recalled the words of Jesus: “Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do.”

“They didn’t understand. They did some things that were rather bad,” he said. “I don’t hate nobody. Some people treated me so wrong, but I didn’t hate them. No, no, uh-uh. God knows when to bring you forward. It was the time. Out of suffering, trials and tribulations, comes a blessing.”

If you have personal stories or memories of the Montgomery Bus Boycott you'd like to share with the Advertiser, please email reporter Melissa Brown at mabrown@gannett.com, or call 334.240.0132.